Abstract:Objective To investigate the characteristics of cervical vascular ultrasound and hemorheology in elderly patients with sudden deafness，as well as their correlations with the severity of hearing loss，so as to provide reference for clinical diagnosis. Methods A retrospective study was conducted. A total of 100 elderly patients with sudden deafness admitted to the First Affiliated Hospital of Hunan University of Chinese Medicine from March 2020 to March 2023 were enrolled as the case group，and 100 elderly people receiving physical examination were selected as the control group. Color Doppler ultrasound was performed on the cervical vascular of both groups. The peak systolic velocity（PSV），end diastolic velocity（EDV）of the carotid artery，vertebral artery and subclavian artery，as well asthe carotid intima-media thickness（IMT）were measured and recorded. A chemiluminescence analyzer was used to determine the hemorheological indexes，including high shear viscosity（HSV），middle shear viscosity（MSV），low shear viscosity（LSV），red cell assembling index（RCAI），erythrocyte deformation index（EDI）and serum viscosity （SV）. According to the degree of hearing loss，the patients were divided into mild，moderate and severe groups，and a stratified analysis of the above indexes was carried out. Results The carotid IMT in the case group was higher than that in the control group（P<0.05）. The EDV and PSV values of carotid artery，vertebral artery and subclavian artery in the case group were lower than those in the control group（P<0.05）. The levels of HSV，MSV，LSV and SV in the case group were higher than those in the control group（P<0.05）. The EDI was significantly lower than that in the control group（P<0.05）. There were 28 cases in the mild group，43 cases in the moderate group and 29 cases in the severe group. The carotid IMT value increased with the aggravation of hearing loss severity，while the EDV and PSV values of carotid artery，vertebral artery and subclavian artery decreased with the aggravation of hearing loss severity，with statistically significant differences between each pairs（P<0.05）. There was a statistically significant difference in EDI among the mild group，moderate group，and severe group（0.55 ± 0.14，0.52 ± 0.12，0.46 ± 0.13，F=4.381，P=0.024）. The EDI value in the severe group was lower than that in the moderate group and the mild group（P<0.05），respectively；there was no statistically significant difference in the EDI value between the moderate group and the mild group （P>0.05）.Conclusion Elderly patients with sudden deafness have increased carotid IMT，weakened hemodynamics and enhanced blood viscosity，which are closely correlated with the degree of hearing loss.